An American patient had an implant placed in her brain which drastically reduced the symptoms linked to her obsessive-compulsive disorder.
- Suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) which isolated her socially and led her, for example, to wash her hands until they bled, terrified of being contaminated by her environment, a A 34-year-old American woman was able to return to an almost normal existence thanks to a unique brain implant.
- The 32-millimeter implant sends an electrical pulse when it detects abnormal reactions in his brain to restore normal functioning. This technique, called deep brain stimulation, has been used for more than 30 years against epilepsy.
- The patient, the first person in the world to receive this type of implant which treats both OCD and epilepsy, noticed the first improvements in her compulsive rituals after eight months.
Suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) which led her to wash her hands until they bled, terrified of being contaminated by her environment, a 34-year-old American woman was able to regain her life quasi-normal thanks to a unique brain implant.
“I’m really present in my daily life and it’s incredible, Amber Pearson tells AFP. Before, I was constantly stuck in my head, worrying about my obsessions.” His OCD could sometimes take up to nine hours a day and isolate him socially. Before going to bed, for example, she had to make sure that the doors and windows were closed, the gas turned off and the electrical appliances unplugged. She showered every time she changed her cat’s litter box, and she often preferred to eat as a recluse rather than with family and friends.
An electrical impulse to restore normal brain function
But it’s almost only a distant memory: her OCD only takes up about thirty minutes of her time each day. The 32-millimeter implant sends an electrical pulse when it detects abnormal reactions in his brain to restore normal functioning. This technique, called deep brain stimulation, has been used for more than 30 years against epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease.
When she had to have a chip installed to treat her epilepsy, from which she also suffered, it was Amber Pearson herself who asked: “Since you are going into my brain to put an electrode and I have OCD, can you put one for OCD too?” A suggestion taken very seriously by neurosurgeon Ahmed Raslan, from the University of Oregon Health and Sciences (United States).
US Woman Receives Revolutionary Brain Implant For OCD And Epilepsy https://t.co/yNezGT4WZI
— McGovern Med School (@McGovernMed) February 5, 2024
The world’s only brain implant that treats OCD and epilepsy
To design the device, he and his team observed the patient’s brain activity, for example by exposing her to seafood, one of the foods that stressed her. They were thus able to identify “electric markers” associated with his OCD. Then the implant was programmed “so as to trigger stimulation only when it detects these signals”. One program manages epilepsy, the other OCD. “It is the only device in the world that treats these two diseases” at the same time, specifies the doctor.
The American noticed the first changes in her compulsive rituals after eight months, and it was a relief: “I’m happy and excited again to get out and live and be with my friends and family, something I was cut off from for years”she confided to AFP.
While Amber Pearson is the first person to be fitted with such a device, a study is currently being conducted at the University of Pennsylvania to see how the technique can be applied to other patients, according to Dr. Raslan.